After being shredded a week ago by North Pitt, the Monarchs vowed not to have a repeat performance Friday night against Bunn.

And they didn’t.

Northside, which allowed a season-high 28 points and 446 yards in a 13-point win over North Pitt, limited Bunn to just 67 yards while essentially holding the Wildcats scoreless in a 28-10 win to advance to the NCHSAA 2-AA East Regional final.

While Bunn scored 10 points, its only touchdown came thanks to a 92-yard kickoff return, and its field goal came after a bad snap on a punt gave the Wildcats the ball at the Northside 5-yard line.

“I think we did (pitch) a shutout,” said defensive end Dawnoven Smith, who came up with two sacks for -8 and -9 yards. “It was pretty incredible. We came out ready to play.”

The performance certainly impressed coach Bob Eason, whose defense has shut out five foes and allowed less than 9 points a game coming into the regional semifinal.

“Defense did great,” Eason said. “I was impressed. I was impressed with how hard they played. They really made a turnaround from last week.”

How impressive?

The Monarchs stopped the Wildcats behind the line of scrimmage on nine of their 30 runs — and two of their five pass completions. Moreover, Northside held Bunn to 0 or 1 yard on seven more runs.

At one point Bunn faced a fourth-and-61 at its 8-yard line after a possession that included consecutive stops by Northside for -8, -5 and -6 yards and, after a penalty for a chop block, for -4 and -6.

Northside also came up with two turnovers on a pair of interceptions by Josh Cabrera.

“Defense showed up like we should have (last week),” Cabrera said. “We just had to pick it up this game, and I think we did that. We had a great week of practice, and I think it showed in the game.”

Eason agreed.

“Look Tuesday we had the best practice we had of the year,” he said, “And defensively is why we had the best practice. They were getting after it, taking no prisoners. I’m glad they played like they practiced.”

Defensive lineman Markel Jones said the defense “slipped up a little” against North Pitt. But against the Wildcats “our defense brought our game.”

Fellow lineman Zachary Sinclair agreed, calling it an “unbelievable” performance coming as deep as it did in the playoffs against a quality foe that had scored 28 points or more in its last nine games.

Page 2 of 2 - “It wasn’t our standard. We want to play at a high level all the way though, all four quarters,” he said. “I think the key tonight was speed and athleticism, and then along with our technique that our coaches teach really helped us; and just watching film, preparation. Preparation is the biggest key.”

That preparation assured that the Monarchs knew what their assignments were, and Jones said the players carried that over onto the field against the Wildcats.

“I’m not sure if they were afraid or not, I can’t say, but we knew what we were supposed to do, and we did it,” he said.

Beyond that, the Monarchs swarmed to the ball. Rarely was just one player in on a tackle.

“We just flew to the ball,” Eason said. “There were 11 guys going to the football. That’s the best I’ve seen in a long time, and we arrived with bad intentions a lot of times.”

And from start to finish.

With time winding down, the Wildcats drove from their 35 and had first-and-goal at the Northside 10. But the Monarchs refused to give in. And on fourth-and-goal from the 4, middle linebacker DeJarvis Eaddy and defensive back Isaiah Wells led a charge to stop Dominic High for a 1-yard gain.